Does having bad credit make you a bad worker?

Increasingly companies are asking prospective employees to submit to a credit check.  After several years of the worst recession since the great depression many of us will have poor credit records, especially those that have had their homes foreclosed. Some state's lawmakers are introducing bills restricting the use of employment credit reporting including Rep. Steve Cohen, (D-Tenn) and California Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, (D-Los Angeles County). Oregon, Washington and Hawaii have already restricted the practice.

"In today's economy, the last thing you want is to create any more hurdles for employees to get a job," said state Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Norwalk (Los Angeles County). "In my opinion, a credit report does not determine a person's work ethic or trustworthiness. If employers want to see who people really are, a background check will take care of that."

Businesses and credit bureaus oppose the bills and claim:

"Credit information can reveal patterns that may present an unreasonable risk to businesses," said a letter opposing Mendoza's bill authored by the National Federation of Independent Business' California office in Sacramento and co-signed by a range of other business associations. "Employee theft is a growing problem. ... We believe this bill unduly restricts the ability of businesses to use all legally available information in employment decisions."

Does having bad credit make you a bad worker?

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